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Sefton Central Labour MP Bill Esterson calls on Prime Minister t

Sefton Central Labour MP Bill Esterson called on Prime Minister David Cameron to explain to the British public why he had broken his pre-election pledge not to cut spending on the NHS before a debate in Parliament today.

Speaking in advance of the Opposition Debate on the NHS, Bill said the Prime Minister had betrayed the National Health Service by ushering through reforms which are seeing the NHS privatised and by breaking his promise not to cut health service spending.

The independent UK Statistics Authority last week revealed that the Tory-Lib Dem Government had cut its real terms funding to the NHS.

The Tories and Lib Dems came to power on David Cameron's election pledge not to cut the NHS.

Bill Esterson said: "Yet again we have seen how the Tories and Lib Dems have broken yet another pre-election promise. Despite the Prime Minister's attempts to try and disguise the fact, the UK Statistics Authority's finding are clear - NHS expenditure is lower now in real terms than it was in 2009-10.

"Before the election, the Conservative Party promised that they would increase spending on the NHS in real-terms. For the last 18 months they have been claiming they kept that promise.

"The Conservative party manifesto said: 'We will increase health spending in real terms every year.' They broke that pledge.

"The Coalition Agreement stated: 'We will guarantee that health spending increases in real terms, in each year of the Parliament, while recognising the impact this decision will have on other departments.' They broke that promise.

"Until recently, the Conservative party website stated: 'We’ve increased the NHS budget in each of the last two years.' It’s just not true.

"The UK Statistics Authority chairman, Andrew Dilnot, said clearly and unequivocally NHS spending has been cut in real-terms."That is a betrayal of the NHS and a betrayal of the British people who recognise that our National Health Service is one of our most valued institutions."

Bill said he feared the Tory-Lib Dem Government was on a mission to run down the NHS before selling it off to the highest bidder.

Bill said: “The Tories and their Lib Dem allies inherited an NHS with the highest-ever levels of public satisfaction and in their first full year in charge these levels plummeted by a record amount.

"We’re already seeing the results of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Government’s damaging health policies as waiting lists rise and public satisfaction.

"The Tory-Lib Dem Government's abysmal record on the NHS also includes wasting £3 billion on a reckless re-organisation, scrapping Labour’s waiting time guarantees for hospital treatments and GP appointments and making a £1.2 billion real cut in funding for England’s NHS services.

"The NHS is simply too important to keep going backwards under the Tories and Lib Dems."